Masters of Death
by Amor
Summary: Fighting yet another war, a nowjonin Sakura tries to forget the loss that lead her here. [Darkfic]


Masters of Death

A Naruto fanfiction by Amor

Disclaimer:Naruto and all related characters, ideas and concepts belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, and others. They are used here without the owners' consent. The original characters, and sole original jutsu, are my own. This fanfiction is self-rated R/M for graphic violence, swearing, and some sexual references. It also contains character death, which I don't normally warn for, but I kill off several fan favourites in the space of a few pages, so if that sort of thing bothers you, you might not want to read. As you may have guessed, it's also quite dark.

Sakura Nakamura, the blacksmith, only arrived in Tokunate Village nine months ago, but is already trusted among the villagers. She is skilled at her trade, repairing old things and making the new like a professional (as opposed to the lout preceding her, who posessed just enough skill to hammer a sword straight). Her and her three apprentices (whom had all arrived with her, but since proved themselves to be trustworthy as well) are now almost full citizens of Tokunate, a welcome sight on any street.

Sakura Haruno, the jonin, only arrived in Tokunate Village nine months ago, but knows she is already getting too close to the place. It just has that sort of atmosphere Konoha used to have, where it just feels like home, like safety. She knew almost everyone in the village, the mind beneath her protruding brow showing its memory capacities once again. Her and her three genin subordinates, younger than they deserved to be, are now almost full citizens of Tokunate. All this despite the fact that the only reason they had come to this village was for a quick attack point against Amegakure.

Sakura Nakamura has had problems in the past, and she's not quite ready to talk about it yet, but she certainly seems well-adjusted. She always has a smile, and never complains about her work. Rumours are circulating that she's dating the other outsider living in town, that weird guy Umino, and she's not denying it.

Sakura Haruno can never sleep, memories of deeds she has seen, deeds she has done, and the man she still loves even after all these years and his own betrayal. She wears a smile like a mask, to ward off suspicion. She has been flirting with that Umino man, but because she suspects he's a sleeper agent from the Rain or another enemy. If she finds out he is, she knows where he sleeps and knows how to slit a throat perfectly.

Sakura Nakamura's apprentices are cute kids, and at the same time more mature than the village children. Daisuke is very quiet and respectful, speaking only when spoken to and then answering in polite replies. Waraku, despite being the model of criminal youth, cannot help but be loved by the people of the village. And Hanabi, the eldest, is constantly surprising people with her intelligence and perception.

Sakura Haruno's genin are trained soldiers, even killers. Unlike when she was a genin, the group dynamic is that the genin were soldiers under the jonin's command, to be used as assistance or cannon fodder if need be. No education is necessary. Daisuke and Waraku had recently lost a teammate, and reacted to it in opposite ways-- Daisuke withdrawing into himself, and Waraku acting out more than ever. Hanabi was a recent addition, who had lost a total of five teammates by age fourteen, but so far seems to be the most well-adjusted one of the group-- if less than eager to get friendly with numbers six and seven.

Sakura Nakamura, the blacksmith, and her apprentices are friendly members of Tokunate Village and loyal citizens of the Land of Rain

Sakura Haruno, the jonin, and her genin are killers loyal to Konohagakure and aim to conquer the Land of Rain.

It is a slow day, both business-wise and otherwise. It is also one of those rare sunny days around here, so Sakura chooses to hang her laundry out to dry. The genin are practising taijutsu covertly, still at the stage where they need to train constantly. _Maybe you never leave that stage._ Sakura hasn't trained in the longest time, and isn't sure what kind of shape she's in.

"I'm tired," Hanabi says, wiping sweat from her brow. The youngest Hyuga sits down on the grass, not bothering to ask permission for a breather. Sakura doesn't scold her. She never knows what to do with kids. Briefly, she wonders if Naruto would be better at this-- he always did seem to get along with that one boy all right.

Waraku walks up to Sakura, wearing his almost trademark mischievous grin. He has always been a prankster, an attention hog that almost reminds her of Naruto, except with more of a vicious streak. Physically, he almost looks like a cross between him, with spikey hair and short stature, and Gaara, with his dark red hair colour and tanned skin. Of course, he isn't related to either of them.

In fact, Waraku's main gift as a ninja is his _kekkei genkai_, the thought-dead ability to manipulate flames, including size, force and direction. He could negate a blazing bonfire as he fell towards it, or turn a birthday candle into a fireball attack-- with enough training. At the moment, his abilities weren't that great. Even so, the recovery of this bloodline, which had suffered from a couple generation without any skilled ninja and had since became a peasant family, had been a piece of rare good news for Konoha. Sakura now has two bloodline heirs on her team, which is just a recipe for a headache.

"Sakura-sensei." Waraku's tone is almost taunting, but Sakura doesn't let the junior nin get to her. "Tell me what you know about Otogakure. I know it's not around any more, but it sounds interesting. I mean, hiding in sound? How does that--"

With a start, Sakura whirls aorund and grabbed Waraku by the throat, nearly causing the boy to have a heart attack even at his tender age. "What have I told you, brat," she hisses menacingly. "Don't mention that kind of thing in public! You don't know who could hear!"

"Ooh, touchy."

Sakura practically drags him through the back door. "Little brat... mention it again and the ANBU will never find your body..." she growls ferally. Waraku looks genuinely scared.

"Geez, I just wanted you to teach me something," the red-haired genin muttered as he wiggles out of his teacher's grip. It is a hold primarily made out of rage, so Sakura's superior combat skills don't really apply, and the wayward student runs off scot-free while Sakura collapses into a chair.

Otogakure... that was what, three years ago now? The first and last time she would ever see the place...

_Orochimaru's forces weren't as strong as any of the major hidden villages, but they made the best use of geurilla tactics and individually strong ninja. Still, their supply of strong shinobi was running thin after years of fighting, and after countless hours of checking and re-checking battle calculations, Tsunade had determined that a direct attack on Otogakure would be the best solution._

_They had met some resistance along the way, but it had always been dealt with swiftly. They had no idea if the Sound knew they were coming or not, but worked under the assumption they did. After all, who wouldn't notice the vast majority of the Leaf's strongest ninja and a good portion of the Sand's, trying to hide in the flatlands surrounding the Hidden Village?_

_The front line was made up of just two shinobi-- Naruto and Gaara. The two demon-inhabited ninja raged their way in, through a wall of defences with apparent ease. This group was mostly thugs, which Orochimaru probably counted on to win because of sheer number. That didn't work here. Sand swirling in the wind around him, Gaara cut countless opens with blades of air. Naruto, fearing having to kill so many people, had surrendered himself to the Kyuubi. He was down on all fours, chakra visibly lashing out around him. He killed with almost every move._

_Eventually, seperated into squads, the rest of the forces poured in. One group of elites headed straight for Orochimaru's stronghold, intent on assassinating the Sannin himself. The mission objective of the rest was simple: destroy the village, and any sound-nin they could find._

_Sakura was with a group of six, travelling along a side road into a cul-de-sac. They wanted to clear out the dead-end streets before they bombed it, a last sign of care for human life before brutal destruction. The only ninja in her squad that Sakura knew were Kankuro and Hinata. She wasn't that friendly towards them, but it was still good to have a familiar face at your back._

_"ZANKUHA!" Out of nowhere, sound waves rained down on Sakura like blades. She rose her arms to gaurd, and they got cut up badly. From a rooftop at the end of the street, she could make out two sound-nin, perched like snipers, but the angle was all wrong for the damage she had taken._

_"They're using genjutsu!" Sakura barked. Briefly, she flashed back to her battle with the Rain Ninja in the Forest of Death, forever ago. "Try attacking behind them!"_

_Sakura herself, accompanied by a leaf-nin she didn't know, dashed towards the building, dodging a shower of shuriken and a couple more Zankuhas along the way. With one leap, they hit the roof, and didn't even bother to strike at the illusory attackers. Their true targets were hidden underneath an overhang, tossing out attacks. 'Did they really think we wouldn't see them there?' Sakura asked herself. The two sound-nin panicked as they saw their deception had failed._

_"Katon:Gokakyu no Jutsu Fire Release:Great Fireball Technique!" Sakura's teammate formed the signals and shot a fireball at the weapon-throwing enemy. He collapsed, clutching his face as the flame spread to his entire body. Sakura found herself up against the Zankuha user. With one strike she twisted his wrist around 360 degrees, neatly breaking it and disabling his attack, and then stabbed him in the forehead. Blood spurted out onto her hands and the sound-nin fell backwards, eyes rolling backwards in death._

_The other leaf-nin dropped a vial of liquid, in essence a chemical bomb, and the two attackers dashed off of the roof just before a massive explosion followed. They landed on the ground neatly, while the other four watched for any sudden movement as fire started to spread. Kill on sight, that was the strategy._

_A form ran quickly out, and Sakura reached for another kunai, but Hinata held an arm out to stop her. Their "assailant" was a small child, big eyes and dirty black hair, crying as he dashed from his burning home._

_Hinata, her Byakugen still activated, kneeled down beside the boy and hugged him gently, showing a maternal instinct that Sakura didn't know she had. "It's... it's all right. You're going to be safe." These were hollow promises, of course, but it seemed to satisfy the boy, and Hinata stood up and started to walk back to her squad._

_There was only one trained, calculated motion. The boy threw a kunai knife. It pierced through Hinata's neck, and a small but strong spray of blood shot out. Her eyes, blank not with her bloodline but with death, rolled back into her head and Hinata collapsed forward._

_Sakura caught her comrade's body and screamed. The next couple minutes were a blur, but she knew Kankuro killed the child somehow. A pawn of Orochimaru, one trained to kill, even at such a young age. Sakura held Hinata's cold body to her, desperately hoping that she would revive somehow, but it never happened._

The war between the ninja villages has been going on for three years now, since the assassination of the Godaime Hokage, and everyone else has been caught in the middle. The Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand are allies again, and the two villages are starting to become more friendly to each other, though there is still a cautious mistrust. Opposing them are the Hidden Mist and Hidden Cloud villages, who seek resolution of old grievances and greater power--they were the ones that started the war. The Hidden Rock sits as one of the few neutral states, while other lesser villages were pressured into supporting one side or the other.

Sakura doesn't think much of the Leaf's allies. The Sand-nin are all right, particularly those she knows, but are vicious and have no qualms with killing. The Grass-nin are even worse, and the few she has worked with were absolutely antisocial. The Waterfall-nin are much easier to get along with, but are weak as a whole, and many even harbour pacifist ideals-- this had been the position of their leader, before some extremely agressive politicking by Suna.

The man across from her, the outsider Umino, coughs and stared down into his soup. On their "date", she had found out that the long-haired loner was socially awkward, prone to ramble, and trying to hide his obsession with the town priest's daughter. He didn't seem like a ninja, but his origins were suspicious, so she had to make sure.

Amegakure had fallen onto the enemy's side, due to both economic and political debts to the Hidden Mist. So far they weren't a major contributor to the war, but there were a couple Rain bloodlines and secret techniques which were reason for worry, and of all the enemy villages it was the least defensible. So Sakura and several other ninja teams had infiltrated the lesser villages in Rain Country, hoping to have access points to surround Amegakure for an attack.

They get up to leave for the movie. As she pays, Sakura makes sure to take Umino's back. Making sure they were isolated, her hand suddenly blurs, clutching a kunai knife and aiming directly at the back of Umino's head, but stopping just short of actual contact. The long-haired outsider doesn't even seem to notice. Sakura quickly puts away her weapon. She doesn't think he is a rain-nin, if she could have just killed him like that.

The Great Ninja War, as it was coming to be called, affected everyone. Very few missions are accepted, as sending a team off just to make some money was a misuse of resources, and few even want to hire them, now that it made them a target for half the ninja on the continent. (The neutral Tsuchigakure is probably making a fortune, and Sakura half suspects that they plan to wait until both forces have been worn down and sweep in and take over everything.) Regular people routinely find themselves the pawns of ninja, whether as Sakura is doing now or in a direct sense, with Ino's Shintenshin now being used to put civillians in harm's way, all to get the drop on a foe.

Sakura thinks about this as they walked to the theatre, feeling the familiar sensation of depression crystallizing in her heart. Now that she thinks about it, Umino could still be a sleeper agent-- maybe he knew that she was attacking him, but that she wouldn't take what appeared to be an innocent life, and just stood there, hoping that it eliminated her suspicion of him? It is a far-fetched theory, but so were half the ninja tactics Sakura had seen. When you read underneath the underneath, very little is certain in the world.

Now that she thinks about it, Sakura really hates her job.

Sakura is actually starting to hate many things, she observes as she stares down into her dinner bowl. Ramen, to begin with. It reminds her too much of another time, another bowl of ramen with a loudmouth ninja a while ago.

_Sakura couldn't remember half the things that happened after they got back from what was left of the Sound. The casualties were too great. Of the ten ninja that attacked Orochimaru, six had been killed during the fight, two had died from wounds shortly afterwards, and one-- Shikamaru, of all people-- managed to survive, comatose, for three months before finally giving up the ghost. The sole survivor of that attack squad was Kakashi, who now stared at many more names every day on the memorial._

_One name that hadn't been inscribed there, due to his turning traitor, was Uchiha Sasuke. But he had still died-- she wasn't sure when, but he was gone now. All of these casualties didn't take into account every single inhabitant of Otogakure they could find. After the child that killed Hinata, they couldn't spare any mercy._

_The bloody icing on the corpse-flavoured cake was when they got back to Konoha. Most of the Leaf-nin that had stayed behind, including Tsunade and Shizune, were dead, and the ancient vaults of the villages had been raided. Witnesses, as well as the bodies scatteredaround that of their allies, confirmed that the attacker was Hidden Cloud village. Wearily, they launched into yet another war, as allies with the sand. The mist had always been their enemies, but they weren't aware of it until a surprise attack nearly took out an entire army._

_In the haze of grief and confusion that followed, Sakura missed all discussions of who would be the Rokudaime Hokage, but somehow it wound up being Maito Gai, of all people. The joke going aorund was that by carving his face into the rock wall they would terrify any would-be attackers. But after the death and devastation, he had been the first one to recover and unite them all again in righteous fury._

_Sakura also lost track of Naruto. When she was about to be sent off to the battlefields, she finally decided to track him down, and ended up finding him bhind the counter of a ramen cart, yelling out enthusiastically to anyone who passed by._

_"Hey, Sakura!" he cheered. "Want to buy some ramen? I've got beef, pork, miso, tofu..."_

"I'll pass on the tofu," she replied wryly. "I'm feeling like pork today."

As Naruto started cooking the instant meal, Sakura stared at him. There was something odd about his demeanour. He was smiling. "So what, are you working off your tab or something?"

"Nope." Naruto smiled widely. "This is my new job, Sakura. I'm Ramen Cart Supreme Server Naruto Uzumaki! Whaddaya think?" As he powerposed, reminding her eerily of their new leader, he handed her the ramen.

"What happened to being a nina?" asked Sakura, before taking in a mouthful of the noodles..

"I quit," he shrugged.

_Sakura spewed out a mouthful of ramen in a wide arc that landed on Naruto's apron. "You're joking, right?"_

_"No, I'm completely serious," he sighed._

_"Why? I mean, you were always so obsessed with becoming Hokage, and I think you might have a chance after that war." Sakura sat down, curious._

_"You know, they actually offered me it. They said that since the old one liked me so much, and I was the hero of the war with Sound, I would make a good Rokudaime. Sure, there was going to be some opposition among the older guys, but considering I have most of our most powerful ninja supporting me in one way or another, I could have gotten those robes."_

"So... why didn't you?"

Naruto slammed his hand down onto the counter in rage. "Because this ninja business is bullshit, that's what it is."

"Naruto, you've always loved being a ninja, the prestige of it--"

"The prestige of what? Being an amoral killer?"

"Think this through, Naruto..."

"I killed Sasuke, you know. Orochimaru sent him after me. Maybe he thought I wouldn't kill him because he was my friend, maybe he just wanted to see a final showdown, I don't know. I don't remember much of it, because I was under the Kyuubi's control at a time, but I came to for the last part. And I used the Rasengan on him. We were both exhausted, but this pretty much tore him in half. And with his last breath, do you know what he said to me?"

_Silence hung in the air. Sakura didn't have an appetite any more, visualizing Sasuke being torn apart gorily._

_"He said two things. The first, he asked me to kill his brother. Obsessive even in death, you know. The second, he told me he was sorry. And I know it sounds stupid, but that just broke my heart."_

_  
"Sasuke was a good person, deep down," Sakura agreed. "It's a shame things happened the way they did." In her mind, Sakura still wasn't ready to make her love responsible for his own actions._

_"You always said that, and I think you were right," Naruto mused. "I think that all the Sound-nin I killed, hell even Orochimaru, were good people, deep down. Everyone I've assassinated in the name of a mission, every enemy I've faced, has been a good person, deep down. I've always tried to think that I've lived a moral life, that I was better than Sasuke or Akatsuki because I was loyal, that I was better than the Sound-nin because I didn't cause as much suffering, but in reality the only thing that seperates me from Sasuke, the only reason I'm here instead of him, is because he bet on the wrong horse."_

_Sakura frowned. "That's an awfully naive philosophy Naruto. Orochimaru hurt so many people, how can you say he's a good person? How is causing needless suffering excusable?"_

"Is it really that naive? That naive compared to every enemy you face being evil? We were at war with the sand not that long ago, and I thought they were evil back then, but when they joined us against the sound they suddenly became good. And now we're at war again, and I'm sure the Cloud will become evil."

_Sakura was getting flushed. "So there's no such thing as evil? You think that we should just lie down and let our people get slaughtered?" She wished she could say that the wars were only in the Leaf's self-defense, which they were, but Konoha had acted as the agressor many times in the past._

_"All I"m saying is that ninja are piss-poor judges of right and wrong."_

"And so are ramen cart guys."

_Naruto paused a bit before responding. "I suppose in the end, Zabuza was right."_

"Huh?"

"That ninja are just tools. Nothing more than weapons, at their village's disposal. Who thinks about the knuai before they throw it, worries about its ethical dilemnas?"

_"You disagreed with him at the time," Sakura reminded him._

_"Yeah, but I was an idiot," Naruto smirked. "I was so sure of myself, and I needed to feel so moral, that I couldn't accept that I was just a tool, for good or bad. That's why I quit, Sakura. I still need to feel moral, and I can't do that while I'm killing people, or starting wars."_

_Sakura got up, and started to walk away. "A lot of good you'll do now, I suppose."_

"Yeah," he replied with a big smile. "I supply the glory of ramen to the masses! Besides, I get an employee discount, so I can eat 25 more ramen! Er, wait, let me figure that out again..."

Sakura laughed despite herself. He was back to being old Naruto again. "Well, I guess this is where we separate. I'm going off to battle tomorrow. I suppose that this is the end of Team 7."

"Yeah," Naruto smiled faintly. "Damn those fools."

Before she left, Naruto leaned in towards Sakura, and said to her quietly, "I'm afraid I won't be able to do it, and those freaks are still popping around, so if you see him... could you kill Itachi for me? It was Sasuke's dying wish, remember?"

"I'll try as hard as I can," Sakura replied back. She would probably never be powerful enough to defeat the Akatsuki leader, but she needed to say she would, or else Sasuke would never rest.

Sakura hasn't found Itachi yet. Akatsuki seems to have disappeared, likely planning another scheme to gain power. She constantly hopes and fears that she will be given the opportunity to fulfill her vow.

"Nakamaru! Nakamura!" Sakura doesn't recognize the voice at first, but realizes that it's directed at her, or at least her alias. Setting aside the pot she was about to begin work on, she leans out of the shop window. Two of the townspeople are holding a skinny man in their arms. He's bleeding from several gashes on his body, and his eyes are closed in fevered unconciousness.

Sakura's heart skips a beat, and she dashes out the front door. She thinks she recognizes the man as Zayin, a farmer who came into town pretty regularly. The story pours out of one of the mens' mouths. "We were just walking when we heard him scream, and when we got there he was being mugged, but we couldn't see who it was and they ran off really quick, and I think he must have tried to fight too because he's wounded and--"

Sakura raises a hand to shush the man, and looks closer at his injuries. The fact that she had no small degree of medical skill was known around the town, and though she regretted letting the suspicious information being known, it wasn't a major enough leak to require drastic action.

_Oh god. He looks like Sasuke._ She hadn't realized it until now, but his dark hair and lithe form remind her of the man she still loved, and almost makes her throw up. She wonders if this is what he looked like when he died, after fighting Naruto, before deciding that it was probably much worse. That idea made her even sicker, and she emits a small whimper that confuses the villagers.

Sakura hastily composes herself, returning to the role of passionless healer. Zayin's injuries were delivered viciously, but hastily-- straight stabs into his left shoulder and the right side of his stomach. He needs some medical attentions, but doesn't have a high change of dying. "Help me take him inside," she intones, her throat suddenly dry. "I think I have some bandages. I'll see what I can do."

Now that her mind has been taken over by rationality, she can see that Zayin doesn't resemble Sasuke that much-- he has a pimply face, his hair is too short, and he's far less fit. That still doesn't stop Sakura from remaniscing about her lost love. She can't believe she still loves him three years after his death-- but she had loved him for years after his desertion, so why should this be any different? Even when they were fighting together, he was always distant.

Sakura was still a virgin. She hadn't even dated anyone, unless you counted her dinner with Umino and other diplomatic missions. She had initially been saving herself for Sasuke, and after that everyone'd been too caught up in grief and war to even consider romance. But despite her excuses, Sakura wonders if she can only ever love a faraway face.

The light green bird wasn't indigenous to this region, as Sakura noted as she looked out the window. She opened her hand towards the bird, and it immediately swooped down and landed in her palm. The pink-haired woman smiles, then closes her fist around the bird, which vanishes into a puff of smoke. One of Yoshino's summoned animals. The signal that the assault was beginning. Sakura takes only a moment to compose herself, then orders her genin subordinates to move out and head towards the hidden village.

Rain is falling in fat drops, making tiny explosions of water every time they touch the ground, by the time Sakura gets there. She thinks she must be moving slower lately, or the children are slowing her down, as by the time she reaches Amegakure the siege is already underway. Hyuga Neji, acting as battle commander, gives Sakura her orders: capture a river entryway into the city, and stop anyone from getting in and out.

There's a handful of militiamen here-- thugs trained to wield a sword, useful conscripts in past wars but blood bags before a trained ninja. With one blur of steel and flesh, Sakura drops them all, a couple bloody bodies collapsing in the river. The water remained murky, not showing a hint of crimson. Sakura's trained eyes caught onto the illusion a second after Hanabi's bred ones did.

"Sakura-sensei, under the water!" Before Hanabi is finished talking, Sakura's tossed a volley of shuriken towards the river. Only one hits the three Rain ninja, genin by the looks of them, that jump out and attack nearly immediately. The enemy genin are made up of a spiky-haired boy, a tall and slightly effeminate boy, and an unremarkable-looking girl. Sakura wonders wryly if all genin teams are made up of this mix.

Daisuke is the slowest on the draw, but still manages to draw his kunai and parry the attacker's, then quickly sweep the attacker's feet out from under them. Waraku lights a match to use his kekkei genkai, but it is immediately extinguished. "Fucking rain," he grunts before getting knicked by the tall boy's kunai.

Hanabi, the most experienced, leaps forward and strikes at the girl. "Juken!" Her opponent reels back, sputtering.

"What the fuck did you do to my chakra?" the girl demanded, experiencing the crippling effect of the Gentle Fist for the first time. Deciding that her three students could hold their own here, Sakura sweeps her eyes across the landscape for further threats. In her experience, three genin are traditionally followed by a jonin, and that was who she needed to find.

The jonin was perched on a rocky crag, concealed by natural camoflauge. Sakura swerved to the right of the fighting genin, unobtrusively made a bunshin and slipped into a bog. It was stinky, but the tactic gave her a good idea of her enemy's tactics, assuming he hadn't seen her trick. The Rain jonin obviously hadn't, as he lets the doppelganger dash up to his position on the hill, before jumping out at bunshin-Sakura. Sakura hadn't been expecting him to jump so high, and he lands directly behind her and grasps her double's throat tightly.

The enemy whispers into her bunshin's ears, something she can't hear. He has a very good position, and would be able to kill her with one move. When she doesn't respond, he casually slices his hand through her doppelganger's ribs, making it vanish in ninja smoke. "A fake. Why don't you come out and fight, miss?"

Sakura stands up, trying to figure her opponent out. _Judging by the way he took my bunshin out, his major ability is taijutsu. I can deal with that. _Sakura still hadn't found an area which she excelled in, but was more of an all-around fighter, who had a variety of techniques and counters. Not as flashy as a Super Secret Ultimate Art, but just as effective.

Wiping mud off of his face, the Rain jonin peers at her appraisingly. "My name's Sakato. Why don't you give up and come live with me, pretty girl? I promise I'll treat you right." Sakato leers pervertedly, and Sakura instantly feels goosebumps crawl up her flesh.

"Drop dead, pervert."

"Ooh, feisty," Sakato taunts. His hands blur into a series of signs, and Sakura quickly follows suit. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu Water Clone Technique!" The rainwater around her forms into a set of seven identical doppelgangers, each one giving Sakura a creepy lear.

"Oushi no Kyouko no Jutsu Bull's Strength Technique," Sakura says calmly, feeling more of her body convert to muscle and her existing muscles become stronger and more efficient. The jutsu hardly changes her physical size any, but the trim woman now has the strength of a heavyweight champion, to complement the natural strength she had learned from Tsunade.

The water doppelgangers strike all at once, leaping in with wild punches and kicks. Sakura launches into an advance kata, her body becoming a blur as she lashes out with her own hands and feet. One foot digs into a water clone, while another sweeps it's legs and then stomps it into liquid. Her hands grab one and use it as a shield against another, and she manages to weave out of the other three's ways. Within a minute, all that remains of the clones are puddles of water.

Sakura can't, however, dodge the real Sakato smoothly racing towards her. He grabs her from behind, pinning her to him with his legs, and then... gropes her right breast and privates? _He has a position to kill from, and he decides to cop a feel? _Sakura thought scornfully. _How did this guy ever get past genin?_

With a quick spin kick, she knocks Sakato back several feet, and catches sight of a chain clutched in his fist for the first time. With a shock, she finds that he somehow hooked the chain into her flesh, just over her heart, without her even noticing. It's dug in deep, and before she can wonder what he intends to do, Sakura is pulled off her feet by the chain, making her uncontrollably fall forward, into murky waters. Sakato cackles, and moves swiftly.

He stands over her now, the chain twisted around her neck, just loose enough to not strangle her. Sakato kicks her fiercely in the stomache, several times. Barely drawing enogh oxygen to stay conscious, Sakura offers no more than a token resistance.

Sakato hisses, and in the same creepy voice he used before says "Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you. I'm going to bring you back to the village, and torture you until you tell us everything you know about the enemy's plans. It'll be so fun, watching you bleed and scream. And once I'm done, I'll take you home and you'll be my wife and you'll do everything I say and pleasure me every wak--"

In a desperate movement, Sakura yanks the chain out of Sakato's hands, using her enhanced strength to best advantage. Before he can react, she leaps into the air, perching above the Rain jonin for just a moment before her leg descends with the force of a freight train. "Tsutenkyaku!" Sakato's neck audibly snaps as his head is forced down at an inhuman angle. He slumps forward in the familiar fall of death.

Taking a moment to congratulate herself, Sakura heads back to her genin subordinates, wondering if that fight is over yet.

It is. The three Rain genin, Hanabi and Daisuke all lie dead in the river, crimson water flowing northwest towards Fire Country.

A tall, imposing ninja with a sword longer than his arms and nearly as thick looms over Waraku, the sole survivor, silent. The red-haired genin is perched over his fallen comrades, weeping unabashedly. "Daisuke... Hanabi... come on, wake up Hana... get up and kill this guy, I know yo can, you said you were going to make chunin next test, remember? You gotta do that. Wake up."

Sakura, taking long, unreal steps, places herself between Waraku and the enemy, who she notices now is a Mist shinobi. Based on that, his sword, and the perfection of his stance, she guesses him to be one of the legendary Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. She had met two before, and they were both undoubtedly stronger than her, even now.

"These your pups?" the Swordsman sneers.

"So, the Hidden Rain had backup?" Sakura banters.

"Of course. And now they're inside the city, taking care of your pathetic troops."

They had failed.

"I'd suggest you retreat now, but I have to kill you anyways," the Mist-nin boasts.

Sakura makes a rapid series of hand signals. "Waraku, there's nothing we can do for them now. I need you to take everything-- to take all the sadness, all the hatred, all of the desperation-- and put it into this attack right now, understand?"

He was silent. The Swordsman dashes towards her, his blade poised to decapitate her in one stroke.

"Do you understand, Waraku?"

"...I understand, Sakura-sensei."

Only two seconds before he made contact. "Katon:Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Sakura pours all of her chakra into the technique, and Waraku pours all of his into the kekkei genkai that enhances it.

For the briefest moment, an inferno lights the clouded sky.

A private memorial, a couple names etched in stone on the road back to Konohagakure. They haven't been pursued, but the survivors are constantly on edge, so this is the best they can do. It's raining. It's always raining.

"Bring them back, Sakura-sensei."

A smile, at the tragic innocence of a child.

"I can't, Waraku. They're dead. Dead like Maya, remember?"

A resentful yell, with no effort behind it.

"But you're supposed to be the best medic-nin since the Godaime died, at least in our village! If anyone can do it, it's you."

A tear, at an irresistible reality long denied.

"Doesn't matter. The dead can't come back to life."

A calm, bitter voice, too jaded for an eleven-year-old boy.

"When I first graduated, and we started training under you, you said that ninja were masters of death. If you-- if we're all masters of death, then why can't we take it away?"

Rain, masking her own tears, thunder, masking the frailty in her voice.

"I lied to you. I'm sorry. We aren't masters of death, Waraku. We're slaves to it."

end

Author's Note:

Thank you for joining me on this long, meandering trip of a story. It was intended partly to explore the future of the Narutoverse, partly to comment on morality in the series, and partly to depress people. I'm not quite sure if it succeeded at any of the three.

On canon:This fanfic probably clashes with it in some places, and I can think of at least one: I'm relying on spoilers for a significant portion of the series, and going deliberately against post-timeskip canon in at least one instance I can think of. Think of this as an AU of sorts.

On Waraku:His entire character was a refugee from an abandoned product (a choose-your-own-adventure that had you as a Konoha genin, with him and a girl that was in retrospect kind of a Hinata-clone as your teammates), and he just refused to die, so I stuck him in here. I've got a soft spot for the little pyro, I must admit.

On Hokage Gai:Just a weird idea that I had, and with the way I set things up I couldn't think of an automatic Rokudaime anyway. The one smile-worthy thing in here.

Hope you enjoyed the fic. My serial, epic-type Naruto fic might be up soon. I promise that they'll be somewhat less Sakura and significantly less angst in this one.


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